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Federal judge refuses to throw out employees' lawsuit against disgraced Louisiana contractor
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BATON ROUGE - Troubled contractor Kelly Sills lost a fight in federal court this week when a judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by two former employees.
Those former employees worked for Sills and his company Coastal Bridge. They had health premiums deducted from their paychecks, but when it was time for the health insurance to pay for their medical procedures, both men learned the health insurance lapsed.
Luis Nieves Rivera had to get his leg amputated after a motorcycle accident. Joe Sauls had to have a heart procedure. Both men were left with bills totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Money was taken out of their paycheck," their lawyer Gregory Miller said. "These are hardworking guys. Money is taken out of their paycheck to pay for their insurance, and the insurance disappears. What happened to their money, and where are the answers to that? We will be finding out soon enough."
Amid mounting reports of problems exposed by the WBRZ Investigative Unit, the Louisiana Contractors Licensing Board revoked Sills' license. He refused to comment after that happened last year and hurried to his car.
"It's extremely outrageous, and now, we will have an opportunity to get to the bottom of what happened to our client's money," Miller said. "The premiums they paid, why was that not paid to the insurance company? And most of all, why are they left with six figures of unpaid medical bills?"
WBRZ's calls to Sills were not returned Friday. The ruling means the lawsuit against Sills can proceed.
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